Various lighting configurations have been used over the years to light areas and/or provide information to users. One such lighting approach involves the use of light emitting diodes. As well as using individual diodes, light emitting diodes can be used together in arrays to provide general illumination, comfort lighting, architectural lighting, and light sculpture to mention a few examples. To take one example, LED arrays are often used in automotive applications.
Previous LED arrays were controlled according to a centralized control approach. More specifically, a central computer or controller determined the status of each and every LED in the array. Status determination software was used to determine the status and the central computer issued commands to control the individual LEDs in the array. Numerous controllers were also used to relay the commands to the individual LEDs in the array.
Unfortunately, previous systems suffered from various shortcomings. To take one example, in an array of tens of thousands of LEDs, thousands of individual controllers were needed to control the individual LEDs. In addition to the numerous controllers and other hardware elements that were required, extensive wiring for the control signals was needed to communicate commands from the central computer to all the controllers. The extensive wiring was expensive to provide, cumbersome to install, complicated to repair, and could introduce transmission and/or electrical interference problems.
Because of the above-mentioned limitations, previous systems were expensive as well as complicated to install and maintain. As a result, users were often dissatisfied with these approaches.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.